While I have a severe distaste for hair mills, it's only right more photos are provided before we can really comment further. However, based on the one photo and the comments of the user, all seems like a familiar story to me, I don't see why the patient would lie.
Contrary to what other posters say, as long as you go in knowing there is a chance your baldness could get worse, you can still do the transplant. It helps if you can see that the hair loss is stable and not progressing too.
I've never taken oral finasteride or dutasteride, just used topical dutasteride for a few months. And I 100% agree that we shouldn't blindly follow doctors in every single thing they say.
This is the worst time because of the nature and pattern of your hair loss. Someone with a basic Norwood 2 would probably be able to disguise things way better, whereas you have a hairline and patches behind, so it looks very unnatural. I have almost the same problem as you due to a botched HT.
For me it took 10 weeks to get to a hair length where I could cover things up again. Before that was all hats and questions about why I was always wearing one 😭
Depending on how you approach it, just know that you're in for years of operation, ugly duckling phase, shock loss, growth, and repeat.
It's draining man. Sometimes 'good enough' is good enough and it takes discipline to stop there.
I have to agree
I don't know where either get an 'Afro-hair expert' card from apart from being black themselves.. Mwamba has had some black patients, but I've never ever seen a black Bisanga patient.